Phew, what a month

I can't believe it's been a month since I last posted. We've been way too busy! Just after our trip to the ballpark we were off to Denver for four days, home for the week, then to Phoenix the following weekend. Gramma and Grandpa came for a visit and then last weekend we were at the ER with a sick little boy.

We visited Uncle M and Aunt K at their new house in Phoenix a couple of weekends ago. Couldn't pass up an unbelievable Southwest airfare ($25 one-way - wow!) Alex was a terrific traveler, as usual. He loves being in airplanes, trains, buses, cars, strollers. If it moves, he's happy.

Gramma and Grandpa were visiting Phoenix while we were there and flew home with us. They stayed for just a few days, then flew back to Pennsylvania. The next day, Alex suddenly had a fever. The Saturday before Mother's Day found us at the doctor getting treated for an ear infection. We started on antibiotics, but his fever just kept going up and up. Later that day we were back to the hospital, where he got an antibiotic injection in an effort to bring his temperature down. Mother's Day was spent holding a very sick little boy. Late Sunday night the fever finally broke and by Tuesday afternoon he was back to his happy little self. It was a hard weekend.

Today we rode the train into San Francisco for the Taiwanese-American Cultural Festival in Union Square. We ate yummy noodles and rice, watched some beautiful Taiwanese dancers who were from the same county Alex was born in and listened to great music. Alex loved the music, cheering throughout the performance.

Alex's vocabulary has taken off in the last month. Over the course of one week we heard, for the first time, Cheese, Shoes, and Juice. Later he added Socks with the shoes. And speaking of shoes and socks, he's become an expert at removing both shoes and socks from his feet. I'm going to need to get some shoes that buckle - he's onto the velcro and it's impossible to keep the shoes on his feet anymore. Good thing summer is around the corner. We'll be barefoot until winter, I think.

A night of firsts

Whenever the topic of baseball and babies came up, Alex's dad was adament that Alex would be five years old when he went to his first baseball game. "Old enough to appreciate it," he said. I think Alex's big brother was five when he accompanied dad to a game for the first time. Five is a nice age - definitely old enough to know it's a special event. I wholeheartedly agreed. How much of the game do you see while simultaneously entertaining a bored toddler, anyway? Not that I see much of a game anyhow...I have a very short attention span at the ballpark. By the fourth inning, I'm ready to go home. Thank goodness for things like beer runs, and expansive outfield sections to walk around. Last year I discovered that if I spend the fifth inning out and about, I can trick myself into believing I'm just starting a new game when I return for the last three innings. But I digress.

At four o'clock Friday afternoon a co-worker stopped by my desk to see if I'd be interested in two tickets to the Giants game that night. Foolishly, I called hubby to see if he wanted them. (Did I think he'd say no? What was I thinking? Obviously I wasn't thinking...) We weren't doing anything else, sure he'd like to go. So he grabbed some finger foods and warm clothes, and he and Alex picked me up at work and we were off. Alex was 19 months old when he attended his first baseball game. Alex was 19 months old when he had his first ballpark frank. (He LOVED it.) Alex lasted exactly one batter beyond the hotdog and was then ready to be out of his seat. Alex and mom did alot of walking around the park. By the third inning, Alex was done with walking around and ready to go home. Mom was ready to go home. Even Dad saw the wisdom of going home. By the time we actually got home, it was an hour past bedtime and Alex was tired tired tired.

Yup, Alex should have been five before he went to his first baseball game....but instead we didn't make it out of the first month of baseball season before making an evening of it at the ball park. You can convince yourself of just about anything (my 19 month old won't act like he's too young to be there) if you try hard enough.

Where's mom?

As you may have already figured out, I am usually the one behind the camera. Couple that with the fact that Alex can't get enough of his dad at the moment and the result is that nearly every picture of Alex these days is him in his dad's arms. I think Dad was feeling a bit guilty about that this morning. During breakfast he appeared with the camera in hand. Here are the stellar results. Hmmm.





Ok, so it isn't always that bad. Here's another one, taken last weekend.


And one where you can actually see Alex too.



And in other news, we've started potty training - check out the big boy pants. We spent a little time on Saturday being diaper free. Don't you love the expression?

"Must you?"